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Alberta paved with gold?

I found a good article in the Calgary Herald regarding mainly Calgary but our province doing well as a whole financially and in terms of real estate.

It also mentions how we can help the less fortunate this time of year. I'm proud our Century 21 Advantage office does just that. I urge to have a look and do what you can to help someone. enjoy the article

CALGARY - The numbers can lead you to believe that this is a city paved with gold.

If you follow business news coverage these days, you’re bound to see a well-defined trend.

Alberta has the highest average weekly earnings in the country.

The annual rate of retail sales growth in this province is the best in Canada.

Alberta’s demographic growth is almost three times higher than the national average, particularly in the young population group.

No surprise there because employment growth is steady and healthy and the unemployment rate here has challenged Saskatchewan for the lowest in the country all this year.

High personal and disposable incomes are the envy of other regions in the country.

And the housing market is on fire. MLS sales continue to climb and with that so does the price to get into homeownership. The average price for a resale home in Calgary will balloon to more than half a million dollars by 2017, according to the Conference Board of Canada.

Luxury homes are flying off the inventory of listings at a record clip.

And Albertans are eating and drinking out at a record pace.

Can life get any better?

With the economy humming along at a buoyant pace, it’s not hard to draw the impression that life is good here in Calgary and in Alberta.

But sometimes numbers and statistics don’t tell the whole story.

I was reminded of that when reading a book on spirituality the other day.

It quoted Biblical scripture - 1 John 3:17-18 to be precise.

“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

I searched out some other numbers on the Calgary Homeless Fundation’s website - 3,500, 14,000 and 23,165. The first is the number of people and families who on any given night are sleeping in shelters, in parks or on the streets. The second is the approximate number of Calgary rental households who face serious housing affordability challenges and are considered at greatest risk of homelessness. The third is the number of households in Calgary living in poverty and spending more than 50 per cent of their incomes on shelter.

This truly is a tale of two cities. The haves and the have nots.

That’s why each year it’s important that those who have extend their generosity to those in need. And make no mistake about it. Despite the rosy economic picture this city paints, there are many of people in need.

The Calgary Herald Christmas Fund each year has reached out to Calgarians asking them to give from their hearts to make this a better city. A better community.

Since the fund was launched in 1991, about $20.6 million has been raised for various social agencies. Last year, $1.5 million was raised.

This year’s 23rd annual campaign benefits agencies dealing with a variety of social issues from homelessness, hunger, addiction, poverty, abuse and violence.

What makes a great city isn’t its ability to generate money and its affluence.

It’s the ability of the people in that city to give generously to those people who for some reason have not been able to hop aboard the fast-moving economic train.

That’s what truly defines a city’s soul and for the past two-plus decades Calgarians have stepped up and shown the spirit that is the heart of this metropolis.

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